Balsillie School of International Affairs | ?m | ?fl |Approved

[WatDot]

City set to approve prime land donation for Balsillie school

June 23, 2008

Liz Monteiro
RECORD STAFF

WATERLOO

A controversial plan to donate prime downtown land to the Balsillie School of International Relations is expected to be approved tonight when councillors vote to accept the final lease agreement.

The graduate school will be located on 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) of land that was once home to the Seagrams distillery at Erb and Caroline streets. Under the deal, which takes effect July 1, the City of Waterloo will lease the land for a $1 a year for 99 years.

A three-storey, 50,000-square-foot building will open by the fall of 2010.

A second building, at 35,000 square feet, could be ready by the end of 2012. The second building will house a master's program in law, said John English, executive director for the Centre of International Governance Innovation.

Research In Motion billionaire Jim Balsillie donated $33 million. Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo contributed a combined $25 million for the school.

A director for the school will likely be announced next month, English said yesterday.

English said a graduate school will transform the core area.

The Balsillie school started a year ago with PhD and master's students studying at the local universities.

"It's going to bring very highly qualified and capable people to this community,'' he said. "We will have young and bright people living in the downtown, which is what every city craves.''

"It will make Waterloo the centre for the study of international affairs and build a lot of resources for the community,'' English said.

Within two years, the school could have 100 graduate students, said English

The joint venture is between Balsillie, CIGI, the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.

Leasing the land to a school means property taxes aren't collected.

If the land had been sold privately, the property could have generated as much as $1 million a year in property taxes, a staff report has said.

Council approved the initial plans nearly a year ago. Coun. Ian McLean was the only politician to vote against the school.

At the time, McLean said council rushed into a secretive agreement with the Balsillie school, rather than selling the lands in an open and public manner.

As of press time, McLean could not be reached for comment.

Simon Farbrother, chief administrative officer for the city, said the Balsillie school in the uptown area is "achieving appropriate balance in managing the tax rate but also looking at the long-term development of the community.''

The school has already attracted award-winning author Thomas Homer-Dixon who begins his job next month as the Centre for International Governance Innovation chair of global systems at the Balsillie school.

Dixon is the former director of the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto.

lmonteiro@therecord.com

Size wise... ho hum. It better be very stylish.
I guess they didn't want to piss off the Seagram Loft owners.

[Duke-Of-Waterloo]

Originally Posted by WatDot

"It's going to bring very highly qualified and capable people to this community,'' he said. "We will have young and bright people living in the downtown, which is what every city craves.''

"It will make Waterloo the centre for the study of international affairs and build a lot of resources for the community,'' English said.

Finally some posts about The City of Waterloo on here! I'm not in Waterloo for the summer, and want to see what's going on in my home town, so this is just great.

[metropolis]

According to city papers the first building is to be slightly smaller than indicated in the above article. (45,000 vs. 55,000). What surprises me most is that the building is to be located immediately next to the current building not right on the corner of Erb and FDB Drive, meaning the barrel pyramid would go. The city is giving the school the option of moving the barrels but this doesn't seem a stipulation.
Page 168:
http://www.waterloo.ca/Portals/57ad7...il_Meeting.pdf

[Flipper-Loo]

Quoted from The Record today:

The final lease agreement for the Balsillie School of International Relations has been approved by Waterloo council.

"We have become a global city,'' said Coun. Mark Whaley as he praised Research In Motion's Jim Balsillie and the universities for their vision. "People with big ideas are truly welcome here.''

The graduate school will be located on 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres that were once home to the Seagram distillery at Erb and Caroline streets. The three-storey, 50,000-square-foot building is to open on 2010. A second building, which would house a program for a master's of law, could be open by 2012.

Under the agreement approved Monday, the city will lease the land for $1 a year for 99 years. Balsillie donated $35 million for the project, and the two local universities donated $25 million.

Council unanimously voted for the deal. Even Coun. Ian McLean, who opposed the lease when it came up a year ago, was in favour this time. "I won't derail council's decision,'' McLean said after the council meeting, adding he was surprised it took nearly a year to negotiate the details.

He said he still believes the land should have been sold in a more open and public manner

[Waterloo_Guy]

Originally Posted by WatDot

It better be very stylish.
I guess they didn't want to piss off the Seagram Loft owners.

The size has nothing to do with imposed restrictions. They got what they asked for. This is a graduate school, not an office building--how big did you expect it to be?

As for the style--it will look nice. KPMB is the architect, and they're taking the design seriously, inside and out.

[Flipper-Loo]

Originally Posted by Waterloo_Guy

The size has nothing to do with imposed restrictions. They got what they asked for. This is a graduate school, not an office building--how big did you expect it to be?

As for the style--it will look nice. KPMB is the architect, and they're taking the design seriously, inside and out.

So... KPMG has been selected as the architect from the following list of companies?

* Baird Sampson Neuert
* Diamond & Schmitt Architects
* IBI Group
* KPMB Architects
* Moriyama & Teshima Architects
* Teeple Architects

[Waterloo_Guy]

Originally Posted by Flipper-Loo

So... KPMG has been selected as the architect from the following list of companies?

* Baird Sampson Neuert
* Diamond & Schmitt Architects
* IBI Group
* KPMB Architects
* Moriyama & Teshima Architects
* Teeple Architects

If you mean KPMB, then yes.

[urban!ty]

The final design was supposed to be chosen in May according to the school's website (which is useless btw).

Is this building still going to happen? I am dying to see its design!

[WatDot]

Mixed message of news reports here, but at least the latest has a larger sq ft building than first stated. Bigger isn't always better but considering this is the core and an academic initiative, there will be no loss going larger.


Balsillie names architects for school of international affairs

November 20, 2008
RECORD STAFF
WEB EDITION
WATERLOO -- The Toronto architectural firm of Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg will design the building to house the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo.

“This is an important milestone,” Jim Balsille, founder of the school and co-CEO of Research in Motion, said in a news release.

“The school will be the focal point of collaborative interaction between the two local universities -- Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo -- and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), creating one dynamic cluster.”

The 65,000-square-foot building will be located adjacent to the CIGI, and will be bounded by the Seagram Museum, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery.

This architectural firm has received 10 Governor General awards for architectural excellence, and locally designed Kitchener City Hall.

[waterloowarrior]

ssp beats the Record by 5 months :p

[urban!ty]

From the KPMB website:

KPMB Will Design Balsillie School
November 20, 2008 | Market Watch / Wall Street Journal Digital Network

The Balsillie School of International Affairs continues to move forward with the selection of Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (KPMB) of Toronto as the firm to design its new home. The project will be directed by Bruce Kuwabara, design partner, and Shirley Blumberg, partner-in-charge.

Internationally recognized for its design excellence, KPMB is the recipient of 10 Governor General's Awards, Canada's highest architectural honor. The firm has developed a broad portfolio encompassing academic, civic, corporate, cultural, mixed-use, hospitality and residential projects located across North America and Europe.

"This is an important milestone," says Jim Balsillie, founder of the school and co-CEO of Research In Motion. "The school will be the focal point of collaborative interaction between the two local universities - Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo - and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), creating one dynamic cluster."
The new school, a 65,000 square foot project, is strategically sited adjacent to CIGI and on the only site in Canada bounded by three Governor General Award-winning buildings - the Seagram Museum (current home of CIGI), the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery. The new Balsillie School, with its state of the art teaching spaces and public auditorium, will be a significant addition to this exceptional institutional precinct in Uptown Waterloo.

"KPMB's design will aspire to make the new Balsillie School the fourth Governor General's Award-winning project in Waterloo," says Ms. Blumberg. "Having worked on the original Seagram Museum, it is particularly inspiring to be back reinventing the site as a vibrant campus for the study of international affairs."

Mr. Kuwabara says, "It is incredibly exciting to be selected by the Balsillie School of International Affairs to design an interactive architectural platform for teaching and research that reinforces Canada's role in contributing solutions to world governance challenges."

[rapid_business]

/\ Good to hear. A great firm with lots of great projects under their belt.

[bauer123]

I am real excited for this project to start. Having a university like this in the uptown can do nothing but good things for the core.

[Waterloo_Guy]

They're serious about making this another Governor General's award winner. Rumor has it Balsillie wants it to look better than Perimeter (friendly competition). It should be a nice addition to the Uptown.

As I posted above, KPMB has been on board for a while now.

[bauer123]

January 02, 2009
RECORD STAFF
Waterloo

A neighbourhood open house about the Balsillie School of International Affairs will be held Wednesday. The open house will be held at the Centre for International Governance Innovation from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Construction of the building on land bounded by Erb Street West, Father David Bauer Drive and Caroline Street South is expected to start in the spring of 2010. The Toronto firm of Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg will design the building. The firm has received 10 Governor General Awards for excellence and designed Kitchener City Hall.

I figured construction would start in 2010, although i was hoping it would be sooner.

[rapid_business]

/\ I'll defiantly be there to check that out.

[rapid_business]

Hmmm..I forgot about this open house until 'Duke' just sent me a text message about it.

I'm going to try to make it there before 8/30. Just a reminder for everyone else!

[urban!ty]

Get pictures!!!

[rapid_business]

I might not make it now. What Duke is saying so far: 10 stories (a portion at least) mixed-use component, central courtyard, exceeds expectations!

If they are gunning to offer office space, this may be direct competition for BarrelYards across the street who doesn't appear to be locking any major leases as of yet. Perhaps even put pressure on them to reconsider the importance of design?

[Duke-Of-Waterloo]

Master Plan: All 3 Phases


Phase 2








Sorry I didn't get a shot of Phase 1. Basically it's just the school. The meeting was packed tonight, and they had to bring in extra chairs. Shirley Blumberg, principal of KPMB was there to do a presentation that blew the audience away. It was complete with a video fly through of the site, and believe me, its top notch. No NIMBYS at all at this meeting. This WILL definitely be a landmark collection buildings in the region.

If you look at the aerial shot of the physical model I took, the 11 storey building on the southeast part of the property is proposed to be mixed use: academic offices on the first 3 floor podium, and then the remaining 8 floors on the tower will be "non-profit" housing and accomodations for the faculty, students, and international visitors to the school. The cool thing is the podium overhang roof will be a green recreational space for the residents.

The barrel pyramid will be "relocated". They are currently throwing around ideas of where to move it in the city. The sidewalks will be extra wide for pedestrians. On-street parking on Father David Bauer will remain. The middle building will be a lecture theatre that the presenters made note will be commonly available and open to the public. The internal courtyard will be for the private use of the school, where the courtyard on the south part of the property will be always open to the public. There is a pathway that cuts right through the middle of the site, going underneath buildings. Blumberg made continual comparisons to the "open" concept that the University of Toronto main campus has.